


Arc of a Scythe Short Story #1- Marie and Michael Wilson.

by CristinaBlackthornKingson



Category: Arc of a Scythe Series - Neal Shusterman
Genre: Adoption, Babies, F/M, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Reunions, Marriage, Pregnancy, Team as Family, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:40:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23145586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CristinaBlackthornKingson/pseuds/CristinaBlackthornKingson
Summary: An AU in which Scythe Curie, Rowan and Citra make it off of Endura before it sinks, Rowan is never accused of sinking the island and after a year long war with Goddard, that ends with his death, Scythe Marie Curie joins Scythe Michael Faraday in retirement at his beach house in Amazonia, where they live as an ordinary married couple, Marie and Michael Wilson, and start a family.(Also posted on my tumblr, CristinaBlackthornKingson)
Relationships: Rowan Damisch & Citra Terranova, Scythe Curie/Scythe Faraday (Arc of a Scythe)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	1. Baby #1.

It is a warm spring day in the year of the Lynx, a few months since Scythe Michael Faraday and Scythe Marie Curie ‘retired’ to a beach house in Amazonia They have recently rekindled their relationship, and are often visited by Citra and Rowan, who are two of the only people who know that Marie and Michael are still alive, and did not self-glean, as the rest of the world believes.

When Xenocrates stepped down as High Blade years ago, Marie was voted in as the new High Blade. She, Rowan and Citra barely made it off Endura before it sunk thanks to Goddard. The sinking of Endura caused war to break out among The Scythedom, and everything was a mess for almost a year, until out of nowhere, Scythe Rand turned on Goddard and quite literally stabbed him in the back, ending him and thus ending the war. Rand mostly keeps to herself now, and though nobody on either side has forgiven her, she doesn’t bother anybody so they don’t bother her.

Marie did not accept the position of High Blade of MidMerica, she did not feel it necessary once Scythe Goddard was no longer a threat.

She and Anastasia returned to their normal lives for about 2 years, before Marie decided that it was time to put Scythe Marie Curie to rest, and simply be Susan Goldie, once again.

She told only Anastasia and Rowan of her plans. (Rowan was punished for the crimes he committed as Scythe Lucifer by being rendered deadish 13 times, once for each Scythe he ended. He was then made unsavory by The Thunderhead for 13 years, but 13 years is nothing to an immortal, and he is just glad he can still see Citra, they may not be able to be together, but they can be friends.) Anastasia was more than understanding and promised to visit as often as she could, she would miss Marie as she missed Faraday, but ultimately she wanted them both to be happy, and would support however they went about getting that happiness.

Citra and Rowan aren’t the only ones Michael and Marie keep in touch with, form their old life. Michael still keeps in touch with Munira, who is still working in the library of Alexandria. They mostly keep in touch online, though they have visited in person once or twice.

Marie and Michael are not known or recognized at all here in Amazonia, and have chosen not to revert to their birth names, it would feel unnatural after all these years, and after all they did not fall in love as Susan and Gerald (though Marie did fall in love with him as Susan) they fell in love as Marie and Michael, and feel it is only fitting that they should be together now, as Marie and Michael. They have both adopted the surname Wilson. Here in Amazonia, everyone knows them as a married couple, even though they are not legally married.

They have settled in well here over the past few months. They haven’t done anything grand or interesting, they are simply finally enjoying domestic life.

They have just finished dinner and are clearing up, when Marie brings up the first serious topic they’ve discussed.

“You know.” Marie says to Michael, as they clear the dishes from the table. “I’ve been thinking a lot, about all the things we said we would do together if we weren’t Scythes and didn’t have the 9th Commandment to think about.”

“Oh?” Michael asks, wondering where Marie is going with this.

“One thing we always talked about was… well we always talked about having a baby.” Marie shyly says in a quiet tone, trying not to get her hopes up. Michael almost drops the plate he is holding. He had not been expecting that.

“I… did we?” he asks in a breathless tone of shock.

“Yes, quite a lot, but you might have changed your mind.” Marie quietly says, not meeting Michael’s gaze.

“I… I haven’t, have you?” He softly asks, setting the plate down and taking her hand in his. Hope swells in Marie’s chest and her breath catches in her throat as she shakes her head.

“No, I haven’t. We could do it now, we could have a baby.”

“I… could we?” Marie shrugs and rests her head on Michael’s shoulder.

“I don’t see why not, no one knows who we are expect for Citra, Munira and Rowan, all it would take is for me to turn a corner and I’d be able to get pregnant, or we could adopt.” Marie softly says, looking up at Michael to try and gauge his reaction by the look on his face.

“Why not both? We could have a biological baby now and then adopt in a few years.” Michael suggests, slipping an arm around Marie’s waist. He has always liked the idea of being a father, especially since taking Citra and Rowan in and having them become like children to him, it would be an amazing experience to be able to love and raise a child from birth, to teach them how to be a good, loving and open person, and to be able to see part of him and part of Marie in another person, a person they made together, well that would be the most amazing thing in the world.

“So you want to do it? You want to have a baby?” Marie hopefully asks, looking up at Michael. He grins and leans down to kiss her.

“Yes, yes I do.”

“Okay then, I’ll go to the turning center tomorrow. You know I don’t think I’ll keep my silver hair this time, silver was Scythe Curie’s style, not so much Marie Wilson’s.” Marie says in a light tone, when she pulls back from her embrace with Michael, glancing at her long silver hair lying free around her shoulders.

“I like the silver.” Michael says, running his hand through her hair.

“You liked the brown too, you fell in love with me when I had brown hair.” Marie points out with a grin.

“That I did, your brown hair always makes me think of you as Susan, my apprentice, who tried to climb into bed with me in the middle of the night.” Michael teases in an amused tone, as Marie flushes red.

“I did not try and climb into bed with you, you stopped me before I could.” She admits with a shy smile. Michael laughs lightly and leans in to kiss her forehead.

“I love you.” he softly says, holding Marie close to him, cupping her cheek in one hand. Marie squeezes his hand and leans into him.

“I love you too.” She tells him.

Two months later, when Michael returns home from on early morning walk along the beach, he is surprised when he finds that Marie isn’t still in bed, like she was when he left. Ever since retiring, Marie has enjoyed sleeping in and not having to be up and out at the crack of dawn everyday, she likes to stay in bed for an hour or two after waking up.

“Marie?” Michael calls, looking around the room for any sign of her.

“In here, come in!” Her familiar voice calls from the en suite bathroom. Michael furrows his brow in confusion, not understanding why she is calling him into the bathroom, they’re a close couple but not that close.

“Is everything alright?” He asks, standing by the cracked door of the en suite.

“Yes yes everything’s fine, I want to show you something.” Marie appears in the doorway, her lavender bath robe wrapped around her. She reaches out and grabs Michael’s wrist before pulling him into the bathroom and over to the sink. “Look!” She exclaims, pointing into the sink. It takes Michael a moment to realize that the object Marie is pointing to, is a pregnancy test, one with the word ‘Pregnant’ clearly displayed in the window in the middle of the test.

“Oh my god.” Michael quietly says, shock washing over him. “Marie… you’re pregnant?” He adds in a soft tone, tearing up as he turns to look at Marie, who is glowing with joy as she grins and nods.

“Yes! Yes I am, I told you it wouldn’t take long.” She says in an excited tone, linking her arms around the back of his neck and leaning to kiss his cheek. Michael tentatively reaches out and carefully lays his hand across Marie’s flat stomach, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his child is growing right beneath his hand, and in a few months he’ll be able to feel them move and kick, and a few months after that, he will actually be holding his baby, his and Marie’s baby.

“Is… is it a boy or a girl?” Michael quietly asks, too shocked and overwhelmed to come up with anything else to ask.

“I don’t know, I haven’t had a scan yet, and even if I had, it’s too early to tell just yet, but my bets are on a boy.” Marie confidently says, certain that she and Michael are going to have a son.

“A boy? No, it’s a girl, I always pictured us having a girl first.” Michael says, coming down from the shock and disbelief.

“Well I guess we'll just have to wait until they can tell on the scan, then you’ll see you’re wrong.” Marie says in a teasing tone. Really thought, she couldn't care less about her baby’s sex, she is just so excited to finally have the life she has always wanted since she fell in love with Michael, as his apprentice.

When Marie is 3 months along, Citra and Rowan arrive for a visit. They don’t know about the baby yet, so Marie and Michael plan to tell them today, it took everything Marie had, not to tell them the second they were through the door.

“How is everything back home? Is there anything we should know about?” Michael asks, hoping nothing will happen that will call for he and Marie to come out of retirement, not now they finally have the life they’ve always wanted together.

“No nothing really, everything is quiet and normal thankfully. Is there anything special going on here?” Citra asks, not realizing she just created the perfect segway into a pregnancy announcement.

“Actually there is something we want to tell you.” Marie says, sharing a grin with Michael as she slips her hand into his.

“What is it?” Rowan curiously asks.

“I’m pregnant.” Marie softly says, resting a hand across her stomach. Citra’s hand flies up to cover her mouth and Rowan’s jaw drops in disbelief, clearly they were not expecting this.

“Oh my god.” Citra quietly says. “I-I didn’t even know you wanted kids.”

“Michael and I both let go of the idea of having children when we became Scythes, it was something we often talked about when we were together and would imagine what life would be like if we weren’t Scythes, but like I said we never thought it would be possible, until we retired to here. Once we had settled into life here, I realized we could have baby like we always talked about. That’s why I turned a corner, so we would be able to have a biological child.” Marie calmly explains.

“I am going to be the coolest uncle ever.” Rowan says in a proud tone, thinking of all the fun things he’ll be able to do with the baby, he intends to be the kind of Uncle who lets the kid stay up way past their bedtime and eat all the sugar they want, then send them back to their parents cranky and coming down from a sugar rush. Citra will probably be the responsible Aunt who makes the kid eat their vegetables and do their homework, so Rowan will probably be the favorite.

“When is the baby due? Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Citra eagerly asks, leaning forward in her seat.

“The baby’s due in October, the middle of October, and we don’t know the sex, we’re going to wait until the baby is born to find out.” Marie says. They had decided not to find out the sex of the baby, despite having opposing opinions on what the sex is. It was Marie who suggested they leave it as a surprise, so few things in life are a surprise these days, much less good ones, she feels it will be exciting and nice to have this small surprise. It will also make choosing a name more exciting and fun, since they have agreed they’d like to have a name picked out by the time the baby arrives.

“Oh this is so exciting!” Citra exclaims. She is thrilled for Marie and Michael, they will be amazing parents and deserve to have a family of their own, after all they’ve been through since they fell in love.

After they told Citra and Rowan about the baby, Michael told Munira over online chat. At first she was quiet weirded out by the idea of it, since to her Michael and Marie were still Honorable Scythe Curie and Honorable Scythe Faraday, and she definitely never pictured them as parents, especially not Faraday. She was and is happy for them, however, and promises to send lots of gifts for the baby and come visit when they are born.

Over the next few months, Marie and Michael start to prepare for the baby, stocking up on diapers and formula, buying clothes and toys and furniture for the nursery.

At approximately 5 months, things to start to feel a lot more real for Michael, when he feels the baby kick for the first time.

It is a warm evening in June when the baby kicks for the first time. Both Michael and Marie are sitting on the sofa, Michael reading through his old Scythe journals on the Ipad, and Marie making out a list of names with pen and paper. Michael is engrossed in his reading when he hears Marie give a faint gasp and looks up to see her sitting completely still, her hand on her stomach and a look of both shock and delight on her face.

“Marie? Is everything alright?” He hesitantly asks, afraid that perhaps something is wrong with Marie or the baby.

“Give me your hand.” Marie says, reaching out with the hand that isn’t on her stomach.

“What? Why?” Michael asks in a confused tone.

“You’ll see, just give me your hand!” Still confused, Michael places his hand in Marie’s, becoming even more confused when she lays his hand on top of her stomach, holding it there with her own.

“Marie I don’t_” Michael begins, but is cut off by the feeling of a small and gentle nudge against his palm.

“There!” Marie exclaims in delight. “Did you feel it?”

“I-I did, what was it?” Michael softly asks.

“I think it was a kick, it’s the first one I’ve felt.” Marie says. Michael places his other hand on her stomach, trying to feel another kick. It was the most amazing thing he had ever felt and witnessed, and it made it all so much more real for him. Over the last few months he had almost felt as if he were not part of this pregnancy, since Marie is carrying the baby and feels all the symptoms of pregnancy almost everyday, he had not been able to feel the baby kick until now, or do anything much besides care for Marie and help prepare for the baby.

“That… that is amazing.” Michael says in a tone of awe, for once in his life lost for words. “It all feels so real now, I cannot believe in less than 5 months, we’re going to be parents. I have to admit, I am quiet nervous.” He adds with a nervous laugh. Michael has very little experience with children, he had nieces and nephews he would occasionally watch, before he became a Scythe, but that was when they were older, he had been around and helped out a bit when they were babies and toddlers, but nothing significant. He has never changed a diaper or fed a baby, he hardly knows a thing about children and has no idea how to be a good father.

“Michael.” Marie softly says, running a hand through his hair. “You are going to be a wonderful father, I know you’re afraid because you don’t know much about children, but neither do I.

The only experience I have with them is from when my brother was born, and I was only a child myself then, so I don’t remember much about it. I’ve always loved children, yes, but I don’t know how to be a mother or anything about children, but we will learn, we have all we need to start out with, we have money, we have a home, each other for support, and endless amounts of love to give to this little one, I promise everything will be alright.”

“Yes… Yes I suppose you’re right, as usual. Show me your list of names, we should narrow it down soon.” Michael says, reaching for the notepad by Marie’s side, hoping choosing a name for the baby will also help solidify them and make them more real to him.

“I haven’t come up with many, naming a baby is harder than I thought it would be.” Marie says, as Michael reads through the short list of names. They’re all old-fashioned classical names, ones that have no big significance, given their pasts as Scythes and how they took on meaningful names from history, Michael and Marie decided not to give their child a historically meaningful name, simply a name they both like.

“I like Mia for a girl.” Michael says. “I can picture us with a daughter named Mia, and no one will be able to give her a ridiculous nickname, you can’t shorten Mia, though I’m sure Rowan will try.” Michael says with a grin and a sigh.

“I like Mia too, but I also like Willow, though Willow Wilson sounds a bit much.” Marie lightly says, her hand resting on her stomach.

“How about Mia Willow then? Mia Willow Wilson?” Michael suggests.

“Mia, Mia Willow.” Marie says in a thoughtful tone, looking at her stomach as she runs a hand across it. “I like it, although we’re not going to need to use it since we’re definitely having a boy.”

“You don’t seem to have many boy’s names here, for someone who is so adamant we’re having a son.” Michael teases, turning his attention back to the list.

“I know, all the names I liked before I became a Scythe and thought about having a family, have been ruined by New Order Scythes, I use to love the name Robert, but there’s no way I’m naming my son that, now.” Marie says, shifting to a more comfortable position on the sofa.

“Out of the few that you have here, I like Alexander the most.” Michael says. If they name the baby Alexander, he’ll probably be called Alex a lot, but it’s not the worst nickname, as long as nobody makes up something ridiculous for him, Alexander will work well.

“I prefer Andrew, though people will probably call him Andy or Drew.” Marie says in an amused tone, knowing how much Michael hates nicknames. Some Scythes would try to call him Mike or Mikey, years ago, but he always insisted they call him by his full name. Apparently he also use to get ‘Gerry’ a lot, when he was Gerald, which he hated even more than Mike and Mikey.

“I will glean them if they do.” Michael flatley says, irritation building up in him at the memory of people trying to call him Mike and Mikey, and his family trying to call him Gerry, before he was ordained. Marie doesn’t mind nicknames as much, she had plenty as a child, usually Susie or Sue, but Michael simply can’t stand them, though he had called her Susie once or twice, when she was his apprentice, it was a term of endearment for him and always made Marie (Susan, back then) blush like hell, it was adorable.

“Oh, what about Henry? You can’t really shorten Henry or make a nickname for Henry.” Marie asks in a eager tone. “We could name him Henry Alexander.” Michael takes a moment to ponder this, before nodding apporvingly.

“Henry Alexander Wilson, I think it works, though we won’t need it, I know we’re having a girl.” Marie grins and rolls her eyes.

“I know you’re wrong, but we’ll just have to wait until they’re born to find out.”

4 months later, on a stormy October night, Marie is pulled from her sleep by an unfamiliar tightening pain in her lower abdomen. She waits for a few seconds, to see if her naniets will dull the pain, but after a minute or two, the pain doesn’t fade. Slowly, Marie pushes herself up in the bed, unable to hold back a gasp as another intense pain washes over her. She has been through a lot in her life, she died seven deaths for Michael, some of which were extremely painful and brutal, but nothing compares to the pain she is experiencing right now.

As she contemplates whether or not to wake Michael, one of the bedside lamps flicks on and Michael sits up next to her.

“Marie, are you alright?” He softly asks, placing a hand on her back.

“I think… I think I’m having contractions.” Marie says in a breathy tone, her hands clutching her stomach. She can’t imagine what else these pains could be, it’s a week past her due date, so she has been prepared to go into labor at any minute over the last week or so.

“Are you sure, how many pains have you had?” Michael asks.

“Only 1 or 2, but I can’t imagine it’s anything else.”

Over the next 20 minutes, Marie has a few more pains, all feeling pretty much the same, confirming to her that this is labor. Both she and Michael know there is no point in calling their midwife yet, these early stages of labor can be very, very long,and the pain is not so intense yet that Marie feels she needs her nanites adjusted, so for the next two hours or so, she deals with the pains by pacing around the room, talking to Michael about what the baby will look like, who they’ll look like, what their personality will be like, etc.

They've decided to stay in the bedroom, as that is where Marie feels most comfortable and at ease, and the room is plenty big enough for her to move around as much as she likes, which is currently how she's coping with the pain, pacing back and forth, holding her back and trying to breathe through each pain. 

Michael feels totally useless, Marie doesn't want him to rub her back or hold her hand or anything, so he's left sitting there, talking between contractions and keeping quiet when the contractions hit, because Marie gets angry when he talks while she's trying to cope with the pain. He doesn't mind of course, he'd do anything for her and feels so guilty and totally responsible for all her pain, after all it's his baby she's about to give birth to, though they both agreed to have this baby and actively tried to get pregnant, Michael still feels ultimately responsible for Marie's pain.

"I wonder." Marie's breathy voice pulls Michael from his thoughts. "If we just showed up in Fulcrum City again, at the next Conclave, with a baby. If we went back to... help Citra and the others... reestablish the Scythedom." Over the last few years, Citra as well as some other Old Guard Scythes have been working to reestablish the Scythedom and to bring back honor and justice to the profession, after what Goddard did it will take a long time, but it's vital it is done and Marie would quite like to be able to help out, without being a Scythe herself, those days are long behind her.

"I would pay to see the looks on their faces." Michael says in an amused tone. 

"I wonder... what Scythe Rand is up to... and where she is... do you think she might... try and help them... reestablish everything?" Marie asks inbetween pains, stopping her pacing for a moment to lean against the wall and catch her breath.

"I wonder too, I honestly can't say. Before, I would have no doubt she would try and intervene but now that's it all thanks to her that the war stopped... I don't know." Michael shrugs. Scythe Ayn Rand will forever be a mystery to him, but as long as she doesn't try and hurt anyone he loves, again, he's willing to forget about her and focus on his family.

Before Marie can respond, another intense wave of pain washes over her, and she bows her head, groaning as the pain grips her. 

"Oh god." She groans, holding her stomach. "Isn't this suppose to be the most natural thing in the world? If so, why does it hurt so much? It's awful." 

"Should I call the midwife now? You could have your nanites adjusted and the pain will ease as much as you like, in a few seconds." Michael asks, hating seeing his beloved wife in so much pain, he wishes more than anything that he could take all her pain from her and feel it himself, it's not fair that she alone has to go through so much, it took the two of them to conceive this baby, all the work shouldn't have to be on Marie, mother nature can be so cruel. 

Marie shakes her head.

"No not yet, I just... I want to feel this, for now at least, we waited so long for this baby, I want to experience it all." Marie then turns to smile weakly at her husband. "When I was your apprentice and I started lusting after you, did you ever think we'd end up like this? Runaways together 100s of years later, living in beach house in Amazonia, about to have our first baby?" 

"No, I certainly didn't, if anyone had told me I would marry you and have children with you I would have laughed in their face, I was such a fool, not realizing you loved me and I loved you." Michael responds with a shake of his head, at how idiotic he was as a young man.

"Well if someone had of told 18 year old me that I'd marry you and have children with you, I would have been over the moon, and I still am of course, this baby is our miracle." Marie softly replies, cupping her belly. Michael rises from his spot on the bed, and takes the few steps across the room to join his wife, putting one arm around her shoulders and placing his hand beside hers, on the bump. 

"She most certainly is, and I would go through absolutely everything all over again just to be right here with you, waiting for her to be born." 

About two hours later, though the pains are still bearable, they are getting more strong and intense, which is a sign that things are moving along, so Marie and Michael decide to call the midwife. Shortly after they found out about the baby, they agreed that hiring a private midwife to deliver the baby here at home, would be the best choice for them, they didn’t want to risk anybody in the hospital recognizing them, even though they have both turned a corner and look much younger than they have in years, it is possible that someone who knew them in their youth, will be at the hospital and recognize them.

Nothing much changes when the midwife arrives, she asks a few questions about the labor so far, and then stays back and out of the way, while Michael continues to support Marie.

Marie continues to labor and cope with her labor as she had been, for four more hours, before she feels the strong urge to push. She had stupidly thought that she would only have to push for a few minutes, half an hour at most, but things never turn out the way one expects, and four hours later Marie is still pushing, quickly losing energy and motivation.t

"Michael." Marie says in a breathy tone, as she rests between contractions. "If you ever get me pregnant again I swear I'm going to leave you." 

"I know." Michael calmly says, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a damp cloth. "Don't worry about that right now Marie, keep your focus on bringing our daughter into the world, then if you want you can start the divorce proceedings." The makes Marie laugh and pull him down for a kiss. 

"I'd never divorce you, I love you." Michael smiles and brushes her hair back from her face. 

"I love you too, now come on, lets do this together and bring our baby into the world, okay? You hold my hand as tightly as you want and push with everything you've got, okay?" He says, a bit of firmness coming into his tone, reminding Marie of how he would speak to her when training her, as an apprentice. 

"Okay." Marie takes a deep breath, grips Michael's hand and pushes again, with all her strength.

After 10 more minutes of pushing, at 9:23 a.m. on the 20th of October, the year of The Lynx, the baby is born. Their cries pierce the silence of the room, and Marie and Michael both find themselves tearing up with joy.

“It’s a girl!” The midwife announces, placing a blanket on Marie’s chest before placing the baby on the blanket. Marie’s arms instantly come up to encircle her daughter and bring her closer to her.

“Hi baby.” Marie quietly says, kissing Mia’s forehead as she squirms and wriggles around. "Hi Mia, I love you so much. Oh my god, you took your time in getting here, didn't you my love? It's okay, it was worth it to have you." Marie knows she would happily go through every second of that dreadful painful labor all over again, to have her beautiful and perfect baby Mia. She has truly never felt a love so intense in all her life, she would do anything and everything to protect Mia, and make sure she knows just how loved she is. Marie never wants to let her daughter go or be separated from her for one second.

Michael puts his arms around Marie and Mia, at loss for words. Mia is so perfect, and even at moments old, is a perfect mixture of them both, with a thatch of brown hair that could come from either of them, and big grey eyes like Marie.

“She… she’s perfect.” Michael quietly says, gazing down at his daughter in awe, as little Mia wraps her tiny hand around his finger. He still can’t believe he is a father and that he has a daughter, just like he and Marie always talked about.

Marie nods her agreement, as little Mia settles and her cries ebb off.

“She looks like you, Michael.” Marie quietly says, her voice hoarse from exhaustion, stroking Mia’s soft little cheek.

“No, she looks like you, my hair is darker than that, and she has your eyes and nose.” Michael insists. Marie laughs softly and says

“We’re both biased, I want her to look like you, you want her to look like me, she probably doesn’t like us at all.”

“Don’t worry, Rowan or Munira won’t hesitate to be honest about who she looks like, when they see her.” Michael says in an amused tone. If there’s anyone you can trust to be honest, it’s Munira and Rowan. 

"That's very true." Marie agrees, smiling. "Do you want to hold her now?" 

Michael had thought he would be extremely apprehensive about holding Mia for the first time, it was a huge worry of his throughout Marie's pregnancy, but now the moment is here, he simply nods and gathers Mia into his arms, as though he's done it a million times. 

"Hello." Michael softly says, beaming down at his daughter, who has now blinked her eyes open and seems to be staring at her father, trying to figure out who he is. "Hello Mia, I'm your dad, I can't believe I'm someone's dad. I can't believe you're here, that you're real, and how absolutely perfect you are. I never knew I could create something so perfect, but here you are Mia, my greatest achievement, my pride and joy."

That night, at around 4:00 A.M., Michael and Marie are awoken to Mia’s sharp, loud wails.

“I’ll get her, you rest.” Michael quietly says, laying a hand on Marie’s arm as she begins to sit up in bed.

“Are you sure?” She asks, her voice thick with sleep.

“Absolutely, you’ve done all the hard work the past 9 months, now it’s my turn.” Michael softly kisses her forehead before crossing the room to Mia’s bassinet, where she lies, her face red and scrunched up, her mouth open in a wail.

"Shh little Mia it's alright, I'm here, I've got you." Michael softly and quietly says, before he scoops her up into his arms and pads out into the living room, so her crying won’t keep Marie awake.

Half an hour later, once Mia has had her bottle, her cries have stopped and she has calmed down, but she is still awake. Even at only a few hours old, she is clearly a curious little thing, her wide grey eyes open and taking in everything around her.

Michael is standing by the window with Mia in his arms, looking out onto the beach, where he will take Mia on walks, where she’ll learn to swim, and play with her Aunts Citra and Munira and her Uncle Rowan.

After a few minutes, he looks down at Mia in his arms, his heart swelling with love for this tiny, sweet little girl, someone he and Marie made together, out of their love for each other. He never realized how amazing having a child can be, getting to see glimpses of himself and Marie in his daughter is like nothing he’s never experienced in his 200 odd years of life.

“You’re a night owl like your mom, aren’t you little one?” Michael quietly says, stroking Mia’s cheek. He has always been someone to go to bed early, but Marie has always been a night owl, staying up until 1 or 2 every night, and it seems Mia will be the same.

Finding himself growing weary and tired, Michael settles onto the sofa and carefully lays Mia on his chest, her cheek resting against the soft fabric of his shirt. He places a hand on her back, holding her closely and tight, and soon they both drop off into a peaceful sleep.

When Marie wakes up a few hours later and finds the bed empty next to her, as well as Mia’s bassinet empty, she assumes Michael is already up with her. She could easily go back to sleep, Michael wouldn’t mind and he’s more than capable of handling Mia by himself for a few more hours, but she would much rather spend time with her husband and daughter, she can always sleep when Mia is asleep.

When Marie walks out into the living room, she stops in her tracks when she sees Michael, her usually neat, composed and put-together Michael, sitting on the sofa, his hair in disarray, his trousers stained with formula, his top creased and stained with baby spit-up, with Mia curled up on his chest, her little hand clutching his shirt and his hand resting on her back. It is possibly the sweetest thing she has ever seen.

Marie quickly snaps a picture, and just as she puts her phone away, Mia starts to stir and fuss. Carefully Marie moves Michael’s hand from Mia’s back and lifts her into her arms, gently bouncing her.

“It’s alright Mia, my love, I’ve got you. Let’s go get you some breakfast and let your daddy get some more sleep.” Marie quietly says.

A few minutes later, while Marie bounces Mia in her arms, waiting for her bottle to heat up, she feels a pair of hands land on her shoulders.

“Good morning.” Michael softly says, pressing a kiss to her cheek and stroking Mia’s hair. “Should you be up, Marie? Are you feeling well enough?” He adds in a worried tone. Marie laughs softly and lays a hand on his cheek.

“I’m more than fine, between a good night's sleep and my nanites I feel wonderful, did you sleep on the sofa with Mia, all night?” She asks, just realizing that Michael must not have come back to bed at all last night, after he got up with Mia at 4.

“I did, but I didn’t mind, she settled when I put her on my chest and I didn’t want to wake you by going back into the room, your rest is more important than mine, and Mia can sleep anywhere it seems.” Michael softly says, as Marie takes the bottle from the microwave and makes her way back to the sofa.

“You didn’t have to, I wouldn’t have been bothered if I woke up again, since we agreed to have a baby I’ve known that once the baby is here, we’ll be up multiple times through the night, it’s part of parenthood.” Marie explains, as Mia happily guzzles her milk.

“I know but it was important for you rest as much as possible last night, so you can heal as fast as possible, you went through a lot to bring Mia into the world, not just yesterday but over the last nine months, I just want you to be as healthy and happy as possible.” Michael quietly says.He doesn’t mind being the one to get up at night with Mia, as he said last night, Marie did all the hard work over the last nine months, now it’s his turn.

“I did, but it was more than worth it to get our Mia, and like I said I feel more than fine, you know people heal from childbirth much faster now, than they did in the mortal days. It’s not like it was back then when people were recovering for months and months.” Marie says, holding Mia against her shoulder and patting her little back.

“That’s true, I’ll try to stop fretting and worrying so much. We should let Citra, Rowan and Munira know that Mia is here, Citra and Rowan will probably want to come visit, and Munira is ready to book her flights.” Michael says with a grin. Over the last few months, Munira has grown use to the idea of he and Marie having a child, and has come to really like the idea of being an aunt to the baby, apparently she’s already bought her countless books, even though Mia can’t even see in color yet.

“We should, Citra tells me she’s already bought countless gifts for Mia, I don’t know where we’ll fit it all.” Marie laughs lightly, looking around her at the small house, which only has two bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and an open plan living room and kitchen. It’s nothing compared to Falling Water, but it’s absolutely perfect for her life now, her family.

Several hours later, while Marie rests in the bedroom, Michael receives a message from Munira, asking how he and Marie are, and if the baby has arrived yet. He texts back, asking her to video call him, wanting to surprise her with Mia, since no one but he and Marie know she’s here.

A few minutes after asking her to video call him, Michael answers Munira’s call. She is clearly sitting at a table or desk, her dark hair is swept up into a messy ponytail with strands hanging down around her face, and her glasses making her inquisitive brown eyes appear even bigger and more inquisitive.

“What’s going on Michael? You never want to video chat.” Munira asks by way of greeting, already suspicious of her friend’s behavior. Not only did he request a video chat when normally he detests them, he is also totally unkempt, she hasn’t seen him in almost a year, but she knows Michael and knows that he is always a very neat, and well put together man, but now his hair is disheveled, he has let his goatee grow out a bit, and his top is creased and stained.

“Hello Munira, good to see you Munira, I’m fine thank you for asking.” Michael teases. Munira rolls her eyes, but can’t help grinning.

“Yes yes, now tell me why you are acting so suspicious.” She says.

“Well I’ve been keeping a little secret, a very little secret in fact.” Michael grins and lifts Mia up, resting his cheek against hers, holding her so that Munira can clearly see her. “Munira, I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Mia Willow Wilson.”


	2. Meeting the family.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Mia meets her Aunts Citra and Munira and her Uncle Rowan.

Munira’s hand flies up to cover her mouth, when she sees the baby. She had not been expecting Michael to show her the baby, she wasn’t even expecting him to tell her that the baby is here, last she had heard Marie was a week overdue and it didn’t look like the baby was coming any time soon. 

“You sly devil you!” Munira exclaims, when she finally recovers from the shock and composes herself. “How long have you been keeping this a secret? When was she born?” 

“Only for a day, Marie went into labor on the night of the 20th, and Mia was born at 9:23 that morning. We decided to keep the news of her birth to ourselves just for a day, while we settled into life with her.” Michael explains with a chuckle, he knew Munira would be shocked, he’s actually surprised she hasn’t yelled at him for keeping this a secret, Munira hates when Michael keeps secrets from her.

“Well congratulations! I’m going to book my flights to come visit, the minute I get off this call! How is Marie?” Munira asks. Even in this day and age, with pain killing and healing naniets, recovering from pregnancy and birth can’t be easy. 

“She’s doing very well, she’s mostly just tired now, like she was in the early stages of her pregnancy, but she’s getting plenty of rest, Mia likes to keep me awake, but she seems to know her mother needs all the rest she can get.” Michael says in an amused tone, looking at Mia, who is fixated on Munira’s image, on the computer. She hasn’t slept much today, meaning Michael hasn’t had a chance to catch up on sleep, but he doesn’t mind, he would gladly stay awake for the rest of his life, for his daughter. 

“She’s clever, like her Aunty Munira, right Mia? We leave your mom alone, but drive your dad nuts.” Munira laughs. She doesn’t know Marie as well as she knows Michael, and therefore doesn’t feel comfortable teasing her, as she teases and messes with Michael. 

“How I’m going to put up with you and Rowan at the same time, I just don’t know. If he weren’t hopelessly in love with Citra, I would say you two would make a good couple.” Michael says with a smile, only half teasing. 

“He’s not my type, men aren’t my type at all.” Munira says with a shrug. 

“I know, I’ve seen you flirt with that Nimbus Agent, Lorianna, you’re terrible at it.” Michael replies. Munira scoffs and says

“That’s rich coming from you Michael, you didn’t cop on to the fact that Marie was in love with you, until she told you, she came into your room at night and you thought she was trying to kill you, and you kept that journal entry about that night, as some weird macabre love note, you have no room to talk about being terrible at flirting, it’s a miracle Mia exists with how bad you are at flirting.” Munira laughs. She may be bad at flirting, but at least she’s never assumed Lorianna’s flirtations meant she wanted to kill her.

“I’m an old man of course I don’t know anything about flirting, anyway shouldn’t you be at work?” Michael asks, shifting Mia in his arms as she begins to fuss. 

“it’s my day off, but I do have other work to do, and I’m sure you’re busy with Mia.” Munira says, pushing her glasses up her nose. “I’ll let you know when I’ve booked my flights.” Michael nods, trying to calm a fussy Mia while he says goodbye to Munira. 

A few seconds later, they end the call, and as if she knows she now has her dad’s full attention, Mia starts squawking and crying loudly. Michael glances at the time on the computer, and sees it’s 5 minutes past Mia’s usual feeding time.

“Now where do you get that impatience from, young miss? Neither your mother or I are very impatient, though your mom wasn’t as patient as she is now, when I first met her.” Michael quietly says, as he makes his way over to the fridge to get a bottle for Mia and heat it up in the microwave. “And she wasn’t very patient when we started trying for you, when she didn’t get pregnant the first month, she thought it would never happen.” He adds with a smile, remembering how Marie would obsessively take pregnancy tests when they were trying, sometimes as soon as the morning after, then getting flustered when the test came up negative. Michael hadn’t seen her so on edge and impatient since she was a teenager, starting her Scythe training. 

“Telling our daughter embarrassing stories about me already?” He hears Marie ask in an amused tone. He turns to see her standing by the window in the living room, her long brown hair in it’s usual braid over her shoulder and her lavender bathrobe thrown on over an old jumper and sweat pants. To Michael, she looks as radiant as ever.

“Well she’s going to be hearing plenty of embarrassing stories about me, from Munira soon, I figured it was only fair she know I’m not the only embarrassing one in the family.” Michael jokingly says, as Marie walks over and presses a kiss to his cheek before bending and kissing Mia’s forehead. 

“I heard you video calling Munira and introducing her to Mia, have you told Rowan and Citra about her yet?” Marie asks, as Michael takes Mia’s bottle from the microwave. 

“Not yet, I haven’t spoken to them in a few days, but we should tell them soon, they won’t be pleased if we keep it a secret much longer.” 

“We should text them tonight, take a picture of Mia and write out one of those old, mortal-aged birth announcements, I always liked the idea of a birth announcement, and if there’s anyone worth of one, it’s the daughter of two Scythes, isn’t that right my beautiful Mia?” Marie coos, stroking Mia’s dark hair. Michael chuckles and puts an arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her head. 

“Whatever makes you happy, my dear Marie, whatever makes you happy.” 

Half an hour later, once Mia has finished her bottle and is settled and content, Marie spreads out a colorful floral print blanket that Citra had sent for Mia, while Marie was still pregnant, and places Mia on her back on it, after dressing her in the most adorable outfit she could find. A white vest with gold lettering that reads ‘Hello World’, paired with baby pink trousers, with gold poka-dots and a little gold satin belt, tied all together with a baby pink headband.

“Does she really need the headband?” Michael asks in an amused tone, as Marie pulls the camera up on her phone. Though Mia looks absolutely adorable in her outfit, it is a bit over the top, not surprising seeing that Rowan sent it. 

“Of course, it ties the whole outfit together!” Marie defends her choice in accessories for their daughter. 

“It’s almost bigger than her.” Michael laughs. Marie shoots him a mock glare.

“Oh hush, you have no sense in fashion, not surprising seeing as you chose the most boring color robes.” She jokes. 

“Ivory isn’t boring!” Michael says in a defensive tone. “It’s no more boring than lavender!” Marie smiles and shakes her head. 

“Whatever you say Michael, whatever you say.” 

10 minutes later the mini photo shoot is done, and Mia has lost her headband and thrown up on her top, so while Marie typed out the birth announcement to send to Citra and Rowan, Michael changes Mia into a simple white onsie.(Ivory to be exact) 

“There, all better.” He softly says, picking Mia up and kissing her cheek. “Ivory suits you Mia, your mom doesn’t know what she’s talking about when she says ivory is boring, it’s definitely not bring on you, you sweet little thing. Come on, let’s go see how mommy’s getting on.” 

15 minutes later, Michael is sitting on the sofa with Mia curled up on his chest, fast asleep, one of his hands resting protectively on her back and the other holding a book, a fictional novel Citra had brought him last time she visited.

“Done, what do you think?” Marie’s voice pulls Michael from the fictional world of his book. She hands him her phone and he takes everything on screen, in.

Displayed on the screen is a picture of Mia, on her blanket, in the outfit Michael had just changed her out of. The photo was taken from above and is a beautiful shot of Mia.

At the top of the photo, Mia’s full name (Mia Willow Wilson) is written out in bold, curling letters. Beside it, is her date and time of birth. (October 20th, 9′23 A.M., Year of The Lynx) and under that, is her birth weight and length. (6lbs 4oz, 24 inches) Then at the bottom of the photo, is a short and simple message. 

‘We are so thrilled to welcome our sweet baby girl. -Marie and Michael Wilson’ 

“It’s perfect, Marie.” Michael says, handing the phone back to her and smiling at her. “I didn’t know you had a flare for photography and photography editing.” He adds.

“Oh I took a few months of photography in high school, this is the first time I’ve used those skills in over 200 years, I’m surprised I remember them.” Marie says in an absent tone, as she sends the message to Citra and Rowan.

“At least we won’t have to pay for Mia’s newborn photo shoot, that’s what normal parents do, isn’t it? Have a photo shoot for their baby?” Michael asks, not knowing much about being a parent, other than the fact that he loves Mia so much it hurts. 

“I think so. I was thinking of taking her to a local playgroup for babies, it’s a good chance for parents to get to socialize and know each other and it’s very beneficial for the babies, they teach them how to use their hands to sign for things like bottles, so we don’t have to try and decipher their cries all the time. It’s also very good stimulation for them and helps develop their minds.” Marie says in a hurried tone of fascination, enthralled by the whole new world of parenthood. 

Before Michael can answer, Marie’s phone starts buzzing with a video call request, from Citra. She smiles and quickly answers the call, angling the phone so she, Michael and Mia are all in shot. When she answers the call, she sees Citra sitting at kitchen table, her curly dark hair loose around her shoulders, and Rowan at her side, straining to see the small screen of the phone. When he sees Marie and Michael, his face lights up and he waves at them. 

“Hi Scythe Faraday, Hi Scythe Curie!” He calls in an enthusiastic tone. Rowan (like Citra and Munira) does usually call them Marie and Michael, but when he’s being teasing and playful he uses their former titles. 

“Hello Rowan.” Michael says with a grin. 

“I miss you!” Rowan exclaims, ducking out of view for a second as Citra attempts to hit him in the arm. “Ow, Scythe Faraday, Citra’s abusing me!” 

“I’ll glean you if you don’t stop messing like a kid, Damisch, I want to talk to Michael and Marie.” Citra threatens, glaring at him. 

“Okay okay, I’ll be good!” Rowan exclaims, holding his hands up in surrender. 

“It’s good to see you dear, and you Rowan, how are you both keeping?” Marie asks. 

“Oh we’re fine, this call isn’t about us, it’s about you and your adorable baby! Congratulations!” Citra exclaims. 

“I can’t wait to meet her and be her favorite Uncle!” Rowan interjects. 

“You’re her only Uncle, you dumbass, stop being so annoying or go away.” Citra says, lightly shoving him away. “As I was saying, she is the cutest little thing I have ever seen! We’re coming to visit as soon as possible!” She continues, turning her attention back to the call. 

“We can’t wait to see you, Munira is coming soon too, you 3 should come at the same time, we have something we want to ask you three when you’re altogether.” Marie says.

“What is it?” Citra asks in an eager tone. 

“We’ll tell you all together, Munira is coming next Wednesday, for two weeks, how about you two come down at the same time?” Michael asks. 

“Alright, sounds good.” Citra says, while Rowan nods in agreement. 

One week later, Munira, Rowan and Citra arrive, only an hour apart. Munira arrived first, so therefore had the luxury of meeting and holding Mia first. She, Rowan and Citra have decided among themselves that they each get to hold for a 15 minute period, until Mia either gets fed up with them, needs a new diaper, or gets hungry and needs a bottle. Right now, Munira is holding Mia, gently rocking her back and forth, while Rowan and Citra’s eyes are glued to the timer counting down the 15 minutes, on Citra’s phone. 

“She is so calm and peaceful, and beautiful, she musn’t take after you at all, Michael.” Munira teases, sharing a grin with her old friend. 

“Well Munira, we’re in agreement that she gets her beauty from her mother.” He says, linking his hand with Marie’s. 

“Hey, when we called you a week ago, you said you wanted to ask the three of us something when we came down here, what is it?” Rowan asks, looking up from the timer. 

“Oh, oh that. Well, as I’m sure you know, back in the mortal days when they believed in God, babies were given Godparents, who would have an important role in their lives and teach them about religion and God, in the later days of mortality, it became more about playing an important role in the child’s life, and less so about religion and God. 

When the Thunderhead gained sentience, and it was proved that God did not exist, Guide Parents replaced Godparents, naming ceremonies replaced baptisms. 

Michael and I have decided that we’d like Mia to have a naming ceremony, and we would like her to have Guide Parents, people who will promise to be there for her and help her through life. Ordinarily two people are chosen as Guide Parents, but you can choose however many you please, and Michael and I have chosen three. 

So, Citra, Munira, we would be honored if you would agree to be Mia’s Guide Mothers, and Rowan we would love it, if you agreed to be Mia’s Guide Father.” There is a brief silence, following Marie’s speech, though it only lasts a few seconds, and Citra is the one to break it. She jumps up from her spot on the floor next to Rowan, and embraces Marie and Michael tightly, tears of joy spilling down her cheeks. 

“Of course I will, I can’t believe you would ask me, I’m honored.” She softly says, wiping at her tears, as Marie kisses her forehead and Michael squeezes her hand. 

“Of course we asked you dear, you’re like a daughter to us, we love you just as much as we love Mia, and we both know you will be a very important person in her life.” Marie softly says. 

“I-I am honored too, and of course I will accept, thank you so much for asking me.” Munira quietly says, holding back her own tears of joy. She had never been given such an important role in all her life, to be a baby’s Guide Parent was no small thing, but she cannot wait to teach little Mia all she knows, and help her grow into an amazing person.

“i… I don’t know what to say, other than thank you, and of course I accept.” Rowan says. “And also, it’s my turn to hold the baby, give her over, Munira!” He demands, holding his arms out for the baby. Munira roles her eyes and passes Mia to Rowan. 

“Boys, so annoying.” She quietly says.

“Hi Mia, as long as you don’t spit up on me, I think you and I are going to be good friends!” Rowan says, letting Mia grip onto his finger. He has plenty of experience with babies, he has tons of younger brothers and sister (as well as older) and often helped out with them when they were little, which he always liked, except for when they would spit up on him, and today he’s wearing his favorite shirt and he doesn’t feel like waiting in line to buy a new one, when he gets home.

Later that night, when Munira, Rowan and Citra are back in their hotel (Michael and Marie only have one spare room, which is currently filled with baby paraphernalia) Michael and Marie place a fussy Mia on a pillow in the middle of the bed, and lie on either side of her, lacing their hands across her little stomach, once she has calmed. 

“I can’t believe we made her.” Marie quietly says, softly tracing Mia’s little cheek. These last two weeks have been the most surreal of her life, even more surreal then when she became a Scythe, but also the best, being a mother is without a doubt the best thing she has done in her long life, and she has never loved someone like she loves Mia. 

“Neither can I, I mean I’m use to taking life, not making it, I can’t believe how perfect she is.” Michael softly says, stroking Mia’s dark curls. All throughout Marie’s pregnancy, Michael was secretly terrified that because of the fact he use to be a Scythe and take lives, something horrific would happen to his child, or Marie. No matter what the doctors and midwives said through the pregnancy, he never fully believed that Mia was perfect and healthy, until she was born.

“I’m scared that The Scythedom is going to find out we’re still alive, and take Mia from us.” Marie confesses in a tight tone. Ever since she got pregnant, she’s had nightmares that she and Michael are found out by The Scythedom, and punished by having their child taken from them. She would rather die than live without Mia. 

“Oh Marie, that won’t happen, there’s hardly any chance The Scythedom will find out we’re still alive and even if they did, they could not take Mia from us, I would never ever let that happen.” Michael gently says, reaching out and brushing away Marie’s tears. Marie takes a shuddering breath and nods. 

“I-I know, I think it’s my hormones still settling back in, and new mom anxieties, maybe I should have my naniets adjusted.” She says. “I love you both, so much.” she leans over and kisses Michael, before pressing a kiss to Mia’s cheek. 

“Marie, I swear to you I will never let anything separate us ever again nor I will let anything or anyone separate us from our daughter.” Michael firmly says. He thought he had felt protective of Citra, Rowan and Munira, but he has never felt as protective over someone as he does Mia. 

Marie nods and moves closer to Michael, placing her hand over his.

“I know.” She softly says. “We’re a family now, and nothing will ever change that.”

*10 MONTHS LATER*

It is a mild and calm day in September, almost exactly 10 months after Mia’s birth. The last 10 months have been the best, the happiest and the most difficult months of Michael and Marie’s lives. Being parents is an absolute joy to them, Mia is the sweetest, happiest baby on earth (with her mother’s quick temper of course) who is forever smiling and laughing, reaching for her mommy or daddy, wanting cuddles, playing with all her toys with her Aunt Citra, reading with her Aunt Munira and watching old mortal age children’s movies, with her Uncle Rowan. 

Raising Mia is a dream for Marie and Michael, and though there are definitely tough and challenging moments and times, they would not change a single hair on their Mia’s head, she is absolutely perfect just as she is.

Just half an hour ago, while Mia was down for her nap, Michael took the chance to go for a walk along the beach, to clear his head after struggling to get Mia to go to sleep. Marie was happy to stay in with Mia, and find her own way of unwinding and relaxing after the difficult hour they spent trying to get Mia to sleep. 

The walk had done what Michael had hoped and now he could not wait to get back to his wife and daughter. 

As Michael approaches their small beach house, through the window into the living room, he sees Mia sitting on the floor, her toy box emptied around her, smiling broadly up at Marie, who smiles softly back at her and bends to kiss her forehead.

When Michael opens the door and steps in, Mia’s face lights up and her smile broadens. Mia unsteadily pushes herself up onto her feet, wobbling for a few seconds. Usually she will do this and then reach up for whoever she wants to go to, or stand in their way to try and stop them leaving. This time however, she takes a wobbly step forward, causing Michael and Marie to both freeze on the spot, wondering if she’ll take more than one or two steps this time. 

Michael crouches down and holds his arms out to Mia. 

“Come here Mia, come to dada.” He softly encourages. Upon hearing his voice, Mia breaks out into a smile again. Slowly but surely, she wobbles her way over to Michael, walking right into his arms. 

“Oh my god.” Marie quietly says, taking her hands away from her mouth, hardly able to believe Mia just walked properly for the first time. “Oh clever girl, Mia!” 

Michael stands up with Mia in his arms and kisses her cheek. 

“Smart girl indeed, your Aunts and Uncle are going to be so mad they missed that, especially your Uncle Rowan.” He says in an amused tone, walking over to join Marie, and kiss her.

“Michael?” Marie asks in a cautious tone, as he sets Mia down among her toys again, and turns back to her with a smile. 

“Yes?” 

“I… I have to tell you something, can we talk in the kitchen?” Marie asks, even though Mia won’t understand what they’re saying and there’s no door separating the kitchen and living room, she would rather have some semblance of privacy. Michael nods and they cross the room to the kitchen. 

“Is everything alright Marie? Are Citra and Rowan alright? And Munira?” Michael asks in a tone tinged with worry. 

“Everything’s fine, Citra, Rowan and Munira are fine too. It’s just… well you know how we agreed to start the adoption process, when Mia turns 1?” Marie asks. Michael nods. 

“Well, I think we’re going to have to delay it a while longer.” Michael furrows his brow and looks at her in confusion. As far as hew as concerned Marie was as eager to adopt as he was, to give Mia a sibling, was she having second thoughts? 

“Why is that?” Marie takes a deep breath, smiles up at Michael and takes his hand in hers before pressing it to her stomach. 

“I’m pregnant.”


	3. Baby #2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an unplanned second pregnancy ten months after the birth of their first daughter, Michael and Marie welcome their second child.

Michael’s jaw drops, and his eyes travel down to his hand, on Marie’s stomach. He and Marie agreed that they want another biological child someday, but not until after they adopted. 

“I-I...” Michael trails off, for once in his life lost for words. “Are you sure?” He manages to ask in a breathy tone. Marie nods. 

“Yes I’m sure, I’ve been feeling all the symptoms I had with Mia, I’ve suspected it for a while, and this confirmed it.” Marie says, taking a white stick from her pocket and placing it in Michael’s free hand. When he looks down, he sees that it’s a pregnancy test, one that reads ‘Pregnant.’ It’s identical to the one Marie had shown him when she found out she was pregnant with Mia, if Michael didn’t know his wife so well, he might of thought she was pranking him and that this test is the one she took when she found out she was carrying Mia.

“Oh Marie.” Michael softly says, moving his hand from her stomach to her cheek. “This is wonderful.” This baby may be a surprise, but they are a happy surprise, and a very, very welcome one. 

“Yes, yes it is, isn’t it?” Marie says in a tight tone, tears of joy welling in her eyes. 

“Did you hear that Mia? You’re going to be a big sister.” Michael softly says, looking down to see that Mia has crawled into the kitchen and is now sitting at his feet, looking up at he and Marie, her big grey eyes as inquisitive and full of curiosity as ever. He scoops Mia up and settles her on his hip with a kiss to the cheek. 

“I hope your brother or sister turns out to be as calm as you are, my sweet Mia.” Marie says with a smile, reaching out to stroke her daughter’s cheek. 

“Tell mama you’re going to have a brother, Mia.” Michael encourages, bouncing her on his hip. 

“No, tell daddy you’re going to have a sister.” Marie insists, laughing at how the tables have turned from when she was pregnant with Mia and convinced she was carrying a boy, while Michael knew Mia was a girl. 

“I was right last time, and I’ll bet I’m right again.” Michael says in a confident tone. 

“You won’t be so sure of yourself when we have a girl.” 

“Maybe we should find out this time, honestly I think Munira might make me deadish, if we don’t, she hates not knowing.” Michael says with a laugh. Munira had been so annoyed when he told her he and Marie weren’t going to find out the sex of the baby, when Mia was on the way, so was Citra, while Rowan was just focusing on all the fun stuff he would do with the baby in order to gain the title of Favorite Uncle.

“Perhaps, I like Munira, she knows how to push your buttons.” Marie says with a grin. Nobody knows how to tease and embarrass her Michael, nobody but her and Munira, Rowan and Citra drive him up the wall with all the dangerous idiotic stuff they do, but she had been a reckless teenager herself, while the riskiest things Michael has ever done, are take up a secret relationship with Marie, and fake his self-gleaning, in order to escape here to Amazonia. 

“She reminds me of my sisters, my older sisters were the ones who always tried to call me Gerry, before I was ordained.” Michael scowls, he and his siblings were never very close, they loved each other because they were family, but his two older sisters were teenagers he was born, and he had been a teenager when his younger siblings were born, they were never close. The relationship he has with Munira is much closer to a sibling relationship, than his relationship with his biological sisters had ever been.

“If the baby’s a boy we should call him Gerald.” Marie says in an amused tone, biting her lip to stifle a laugh, when a look of horror washes over Michael’s face. 

“Oh absolutely not, I thought we settled on Henry, for a boy.” 

“I think I like Gerald more.” 

“Mia, tell your mother that no child of mine will ever be called Gerald, tell mama your brother is going to be Henry.” Mia’s face lights up when Michael turns his attention to her, and she reaches out and tugs on his goatee. 

“Well we won’t need a boy’s name, right Mia? You’re going to have a sister, so we need a girl’s name.” 

“Susan.” Michael suggests with a smile, laughing when Marie glares at him and slaps him lightly on the arm.

“No, we should choose a name that starts with M, since both our names start with M, and so does Mia’s.” Marie points out. 

“How about Muriel?” Michael suggests in a teasing tone. 

“Michael, I swear to god if you don’t stop suggesting names you know I hate, I will divorce you.” Marie says with a scowl, which makes Michael laugh and kiss her cheek. 

“How about we leave the name discussion until we know the sex?” He suggests. Marie smiles and nods. 

A few weeks later, just when Marie and Michael feel ready to tell their friends about the baby, Citra, Rowan and Munira arrive for a visit.

Citra and Rowan are only staying for a few days, but Munira will be around for a few weeks, she wants to spend some time with Mia, as she doesn’t get to see her in person very often, what with being busy with work.

Michael and Marie agree to tell Citra, Rowan and Munira about the baby altogether. Michael assumed they would just tell them, like they had when they were expecting Mia, but then one day Marie arrived back from town with a t-shirt for Mia, a white t-shirt with golden lettering that reads ‘Only child, expiring April, Year of The Narwhal.’ Marie plans on dressing Mia in this shirt the day Citra, Rowan and Munira arrive and putting a cardigan over it, then at some point taking the cardigan off and surprising the three of them with the shirt, and the news of the baby. It’s not something Michael would ever have thought of doing, but he certainly likes the idea and can’t wait to see the looks on their faces.

Citra, Rowan and Munira arrived this morning, and Mia has just finished her lunch, unsurprisingly she has gotten her cardigan filthy, which gives Marie a good reason to take it off her so that the others will the shirt.

Once Marie has taken Mia out of her high-chair, cleaned her face and hands off and taken off her cardigan, she sets her down, watching as she toddles off towards Rowan, who is sitting on the floor against the sofa. When he sees her approaching him, Rowan grins and holds his arms out. 

“C’mere Mia, come say hi to me!” He encourages. 

“What does your shirt say, Mimi?” Citra curiously asks, unable to read the writing on the shirt while Mia is still halfway across the room.

When Mia reaches Rowan, he scoops her up and holds her in front of him so he and the girls can see what her shirt says. 

“Only child, expiring April, Year of The Narwhal. What does that mean?” Munira asks in a confused tone, wrinkling her forehead in confusion. 

“Think about it, what does it sound like it means?” Michael asks, sharing a grin with Marie. 

“Only child, expiring.... Oh my god! Marie, are you pregnant?” Citra asks in a high-pitched tone of surprise. Marie laughs and rests her hand on her stomach. 

“Yes I am, three months. Mia’s going to be a big sister in April.” Michael places his hand over Marie’s, his grin growing wider. 

“We couldn’t be more thrilled.” Michael softly adds. 

“Oh I’m so thrilled for you! Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Citra asks eagerly. 

“Not yet, I have a scan later this week and we’ll find out then.” Marie explains. 

“If you stick with the M theme, Munira is a good name for a girl.” Rowan teases, immediately regretting it when Munira slaps him on the back of the head. He often forgets Munira doesn’t put up with his teasing the same way Citra does.

“Ow!” Rowan grumbles, rubbing the back of his head.

“We are likely going to stick with the M theme, but don’t worry we won’t be using your name, Munira.” Michael says with a laugh.

“Good, I would never have spoken to you again if you did. I can book time off from work in April and come take care of Mia while you’re in labor, Marie, if you like.” Munira offers. 

“Thank you Munira, we’d appreciate that.” 

“I’ll teach you how to be an awesome big sibling, Mia, I was a professional Big Brother at one point you know, my little sisters and brothers thought I was the coolest person ever.” Rowan says in a confident tone, remembering how when his younger siblings were small, they would always cling to him and want to be with him, they made him feel less alone amongst his massive family. Mia giggles and reaches up to pat Rowan’s face, which a few seconds later, turns into a slap. 

“Ah! Mia, why?!” Rowan exclaims, trying to twist away from his giggling niece. Munira smiles and leans down to ruffle Mia’s hair. 

“That’s my girl.” She proudly says.

Two days later, Munira arrives at Michael and Marie’s early in the morning, to look after Mia while they go for the scan. Marie and Michael had worried Mia would be clingy and not want them to go, but once she saw her Aunty Munira, she was perfectly happy and didn’t even notice her parents leave. 

Half an hour after arriving at the hospital, they have found themselves in a small, dark room, with an medical exam bed in the middle of the room, next to a rolling stool and a complicated looking computer, as well as a screen just above the computer. 

Marie is lying on the exam bed, her shirt pulled up to the top of her rib cage Michael is by her side, holding her hand tightly as the doctor administers a cold blue gel to Marie’s stomach, and spreads it around by running the ultrasound probe around her stomach. 

“I-is everything alright?” Marie nervously asks, when the doctor hasn’t spoken for a few minutes. Even though pregnancy complications occur very, very rarely these days, Marie is still terrified that something will happen to her or the baby, she stupidly decided to read up on mortal-age pregnancy complications and now can’t stop thinking about what will happen if something isn’t right with the baby, or if she develops pre-eclampsia and losses the baby. 

“Yes everything is perfect, I’m just making sure that baby is measuring correctly, which so far they are, I would even go as far as to say they’re a little bit big for 16 weeks, but that’s not a bad thing. Would you like to see?” The doctor asks. Marie nods eagerly, her grip tightening on Michael’s hand. 

The doctor turns the screen so Michael and Marie can see it, and straight away they both tear up with joy. Marie can’t get over the sensation of feeling her baby kick and wriggle inside her, while also watching them kick on the screen.

“Oh my god, look Michael.” Marie says in a tight, teary tone, pulling her husband closer to her. 

“Yes, look at that, they’re perfect, a little miracle.” Michael quietly says, pressing a kiss to Marie’s cheek. 

“Would you like to know the sex?” The doctor asks. 

“Oh yes please!” Marie exclaims, eager to prove Michael wrong and have it confirmed that they’re having another daughter. 

“It’s a girl.” The doctor says in a soft, happy tone. Marie laughs in delight, while Michael grows slack-jawed. He had been so sure they were having a boy, he knew Mia was a girl before she was born, he was convinced he’d be right this time too. 

“I told you Michael!” Marie exclaims with a laugh, pulling him down for a kiss. Michael laughs softly and shakes his head in disbelief. 

“So you did,I love you.” He softly says, brushing her hair back, his heart completely full with love for his wife and two sweet and beautiful daughters. 

Half an hour later, they arrive back home and are immediately greeted by Mia at the door. She squeals in delight when she sees them, immediately reaching up for Michael to lift her, which he does with a chuckle and a kiss to her cheek. 

“Well hello Miss Mia, were you good for your Aunty Munira?” Michael asks, settling Mia on his hip, as Munira walks out of the living room. 

“Good as gold, as usual. How did the scan go?” Munira asks. 

“Perfectly, everything is fine with the baby and I.” Marie tells her. 

“Did you find out the sex?” 

“Yes we did, Mia you’re going to have a baby sister soon, do you want to see a picture of the baby?” Marie softly asks, gently tickling her daughter under the chin, while taking the scan picture the doctor had printed off for them, out of her pocket. “Do you see, Mia? Here’s her head, and her little arms and legs.” Marie explains, pointing out each part of the baby, just as the doctor had, at the hospital. Of course Mia probably doesn’t understand a word of what she is saying, but it’s a good idea to talk to her about the baby, and get her use to the idea of being a big sister, so it won’t be a shock when the baby is born.

Mia simply smiles at her mother, before turning and cuddling into Michael, who smiles and kisses her forehead, putting an arm around Marie and holding his girls close to him, still hardly able to believe how lucky he is to have such a beautiful family.

The next few months pass by in a breeze, Marie’s fear of something happening to her and the baby eases, and she is able to enjoy her pregnancy. As Mia gets a little bit older, she is more able to understand that she is going to have a baby sister soon, and starts to show an interest in the baby, cuddling the bump and talking to the baby, and wanting to help Marie and Michael pick out clothes and toys and paint the nursery. 

Currently Marie is 9 months pregnant, two weeks overdue to be exact, not surprising seeing as Mia was also born late. 

Marie and Michael still haven’t settled on a name for the baby, they just can’t settle on one they like, and if they don’t choose it soon the baby won’t have a name before she’s born.

Mia is fast asleep in her crib upstairs, and Michael and Marie have taken these few hours of peace and quiet, to have some quality time together. They are curled up on the sofa, with a mortal-age movie playing on the T.V. Marie lying back against Michael’s chest, one of Michael’s hands resting on her swollen stomach. 

Marie lost interest in the movie a while ago, but she’s comfortable cuddled up here with Michael, in front of the fire, so while he continued to watch the movie she got her phone out, and started looking for baby names.

“Michael.” Marie says, setting her phone down. “Michael what do you think of the name Melanie?” Michael is quiet for a minute, pondering the name and how he feels about it. 

“Melanie, I like it, do you?” He asks. Marie nods. 

“Yes, a lot, it feels right for the baby, doesn’t it? Melanie and Mia sound good together.” Marie places her hand on top of Michael’s. 

“Hm, Mia and Melanie Wilson. Yes I think it works very well. What about middle names?” Michael asks, pausing the TV. 

“How about Grace?” 

“Melanie Grace Wilson, Mia Willow Wilson’s little sister. I think it’s perfect, Marie.” 

“Good, then she finally has a name.” 

A few seconds later they return to watching the movie, and when it ends an hour later they agree it’s getting late and they should head up to bed, knowing that Mia will be waking them in just a few hours. 

As Marie stands up from the sofa, she notices a damp feeling between her legs and at her feet, and when she turns to say it to Michael, she notices the big wet patch on the sofa, right where she was sitting just moments ago. She then looks down and notices there is a puddle of water collecting at her feet, and she can feel water dripping down her thighs. 

“Oh my god!” Marie gasps, realizing what’s happening. “Michael my water broke.”

Quickly, Michael helps Marie upstairs into the room and helps her change into dry clothes, before calling Munira and asking her to come get Mia and take her back to her hotel, until the baby is born. 

Unlike her labor with Mia, this time around Marie’s labor is very slow and very painful. With Mia she had been able to walk and pace around the room, this time the pain is so strong she can hardly sit up, never mind get out of the bed. Despite the pain, she refuses to have her nainets adjusted, she had waited too long for this baby, she wanted to feel every minute of everything, even if it was the worst pain in the world.

Marie had finally been able to push after 12 long hours of labor, and it has now been 3 hours since she began pushing, and she is quickly loosing motivation and energy. 

“Oh God, Michael I can’t do this anymore.” Marie weakly says, trying to catch her breath between contractions. Michael gently dabs her sweaty forehead with a cold damp cloth, and squeezes her hand encouragingly. 

“Of course you can.” He softly says. Marie shakes her head, as tears well up in her eyes. 

“I can’t, I can’t Michael, she won’t budge, I’m so tired and I’m so fed up of this pain, I can’t do it anymore.” Marie says in a teary tone. 

“Marie.” Michael firmly says, cupping her face. “Marie you are the strongest person I ever met, I know this is absolute hell for you, but I also know you are doing so much better than you think and you absolutely can do this, it really won’t be long now, just a few more minutes and we’re going to have our baby, okay? I know you can do it.” He softly and gently says, stroking her cheek with his thumb. Marie nods, closing her eyes as another contraction grips her. She holds onto Michael’s hand for dear life, and what feels like an eternity later, finally feels a weight lift from her, and is rewarded by the sound of her baby crying. 

“Oh thank god!” Marie exclaims, leaning back into the pillows pilled behind her. Michael laughs in delight and softly cups her face in his hands, leaning in to kiss her. 

“You did it Susie, I told you could.” He softly says. Marie laughs softly at the use of her old nickname and smiles up at her husband. 

“You haven’t called me Susie in years, since I was a teenager.” She quietly says in a hoarse voice. 

“I suppose I haven’t, but it suits you. I love you, Marie, and I’m so proud of you.” Michael says, leaning his forehead against hers. 

“I love you too, Mikey.” Marie teases. 

A few seconds later the baby is placed on Marie’s chest, and she immediately pulls her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Hi baby.” She whispers. “Hi Melanie, I love you.” Michael sits back for a moment, watching his wife and daughter in awe. Melanie is just as perfect as Mia, with a thick mop of dark brown hair, the same as Michael’s, his bone structure, nose and eyes, and Marie’s mouth and eye shape. 

“She’s perfect.” Michael quietly says, reaching out to stroke Melanie’s cheek. 

40 minutes later, once Melanie has been cleaned and wrapped up, and Marie has been able to change into more clean clothes, Munira drops Melanie with Michael at the front door, giving Michael a quick congratulatory hug, before promising to come meet Melanie soon, and heading back to her hotel. 

“Did you have fun with Aunty Munira, Mia?” Michael softly asks his daughter, as he closes the front door. 

“Uh hu, where mama?” Mia curiously asks, looking around for Marie. 

“She’s upstairs, do you know why you went to stay with Aunty Munira last night? Do you remember?” Michael gently asks, crouching down so he’s level with Mia. Mia thinks for a minute, before shaking her head, sending her brown curls flying in every direction. 

“Well, this morning your little sister was born, she’s upstairs with mama.” Michael gently explains, watching as Mia’s eyes widen and light up in delight. 

“Want see her!” Mia squeals in delight. Michael chuckles and ruffles her hair. 

“Alright, come on then.” He scoops her up and carries her upstairs and into he and Marie’s room, where Marie is sitting up in bed with Melanie cradled in her arms. 

“Mama!” Mia squeals, wriggling in Michael’s grip and darting over to the bed when he sets her down. 

“Hi Mia baby, I missed you.” Marie says, putting an arm around her daughter and kissing her cheek. 

“Baby!” Mia exclaims, pointing down at Melanie as Michael sits beside Marie on the bed.

“Yeah this is your baby sister, this is Melanie, do you want to say hi?” Marie gently asks, brushing Mia’s hair back from her face. Mia leans down and presses a sloppy kiss to her sister’s forehead. 

“Hi, hi baby, ove you.” Mia says, gently and carefully running her hand over her sister’s hair. 

“You’re such a wonderful big sister already Mia, I’m very proud of you.” Michael says, leaning in to kiss her cheek. Mia giggles and crawls into Michael’s lap. 

“Tired dada.” Mia says through a yawn, snuggling into his chest and rubbing her eyes. Michael smooths her hair down and places a hand on her back. 

“I’m sure you are sweetheart, mama and I are too.” He quietly says, rubbing soothing circles on Mia’s back to help her drift off to sleep. Not long later, Mia is sound asleep on Michael’s chest and Melanie is sound asleep in Marie’s arms. Marie is resting her head on Michael’s chest, just enjoying being with her husband and children, not having to worry about Gleaning or Conclave or anything like that. 

“Do you think we should ever tell the girls about our pasts as Scythes?” Marie quietly asks. 

“I doubt we’ll have a choice, they’re bound to figure out when they get older, and it’s not like we were dishonorable Scythes, like Goddard.” Marie is quiet for a minute before she says 

“But I was when I was young, when I gleaned the president and his cabinet, I showed bias and started craving the spotlight and enjoying what I did.” 

“If you hadn’t gleaned the president and his cabinet god knows what would’ve happened to the world, and you stopped yourself before you got too far with enjoying gleaning, you knew what you were doing was wrong and resolved it, Marie you were and are nothing like New Order Scythes, and I know our girls are going to be so proud to have you as their mother.” Marie wipes at her tears of joy and curls further into her husband. 

“They’re lucky to have you as a dad too, I love you Michael, and our girls.” Michael smiles and presses a kiss to Marie’s head, then kisses Mia’s forehead and finally he bends to kiss Melanie’s cheek. 

“I love you too, my beautiful, perfect family.”


End file.
